The Good, The Bad and The Genius
by HotTemperedPixie
Summary: As far as John was aware, Sherlock didn't have 'friends'. So imagine his shock when 3 childhood friends turn up at once. With danger approaching all of them Sherlock has to do something he never wanted to do, remember THOSE memories from school.
1. A Storm Approaches

**Hey there, me and my friends have all decided that we were going to put eachother into a fanfic about Sherlock. So if you can, please go and read tomatoesonstrings and SpaceShipZoom's version of this story and trust me all of ours couldn't get any different from eachothers. Well I hope you enjoy this, review it if you want :D**

**p.s No, we are not actually 35 in real life.**

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><p><span>Chapter 1<span>

Thunder roared above the city of London and the lightening illuminated the dark sky, rain pelted down on all those brave enough to face to weather. The empty streets were filled with the echoes of three pairs of feet and the occasional shout. Three women rounded the corner, one carrying a broken umbrella and the other two fussing over a drenched piece of paper.

"I told you to put it in a bag! Now how are we supposed to know where to go!" The small brunette shouted. "You can barley read what it says!" she pushed her fringe out of her eyes letting the rain plaster it to her skull once again.

"Well we need it out to find out where we need to go! That's what maps are for!" The shorter brunette argued back shoving the map in the scowling face of the women beside her. The taller of the three turned around to face them, her ponytail soaked and her brow furrowed in annoyance.

"Will you guys just... I don't know. Hug it out?" She pleaded shivering in the cold. "Before I develop Hypothermia." The two women stopped arguing and turned to their friend both of them wearing a blank expression. The taller of the two turned back to face the other, a sneer carved onto her face.

"Sorry, but I did suggest to get a taxi, but _noooo_ you insisted that we didn't! So save it Flo..."

"Don't you dare finish that word Keri." The smaller one growled. "And if you haven't noticed It's raining so hard that I can barely see anything in front of me. It would be close to impossible to try and flag down a taxi in this weather!" Keri sighed, snatching the soaked piece of paper out of her friend's hands. She squinted to see if the smudges would form into words, anything to give them a clue in which direction to go.

"Rhiannon?" Keri called her eyes still fixated on the deteriorating paper. The smaller women looked up at her, a scowl still firmly fixed onto her face.

"What?" She asked while stopping the harsh winds from trying to mug her of her black trilby.

"What was that guy called again? The one with the blog?" Keri asked, her lips quivering slightly causing her voice to stammer. Her brown eyes connected with her friends.

"John Watson, I think? But I can't remember the name of the guy that he talks about, the guy we need to see. " Rhiannon answered, her feet now shuffling slowly along the pavement. The dim light from the street lamps lighting their path way. "What about you Megan?" Megan shook her head, droplets of rain dripping from her eyelashes.

"Isn't it something like. Holden? Hames? Hules? Shelldon Hames? I can't remember." Megan answered her arms crossed tightly across her chest, rubbing them in an attempt to keep herself warm.

"But the address was definitely 221b Baker Street, right?" Keri asked, stopping in her tracks. Rhiannon and Megan stopped and turned back to face her.

"Yeah, that much I am sure on." Megan answered. A grin spread across their friend's face as quick as the lightening lit up the sky.

"Look." Keri laughed, Rhiannon and Megan followed Keri's gaze and both their eyes widened when the landed on the sign that read 'Baker Street' lit up by the nearby street light. They ran along the street stopping every so often to read the numbers on the doors. Megan ran up the steps to another door, Her eyes lighting up when the sign on the door read '221b'.

"This one." She called down to her friends, they sprinted up the steps to join her and pounded furiously on the door, praying that someone was in. The door opened suddenly, nearly sending the three women tumbling forewords. An elderly lady smiled up at them, her face fell when she saw the state they were in.

"Come in, come in. Let's get you out of the cold." She rushed, stepping to the side to allow them entry. Megan entered first, stepping through and smiling up at the kind lady. She quickly shut the door, stopping the cold draft entering the building. "How can I help you?." She smiled at the women.

"You don't happen to have a John Watson living at this address do you?" Rhiannon piped up.

"Or a towel we can borrow." Keri added, Megan elbowed her and scowled intensely.

"Yes I do have a towel sweeties, and yes Doctor Watson does live here." The women answered looking the women up and down. "Follow me, I'm Mrs Hudson." She greeted leading them up a small stairway.

"Megan." Megan introduced, smiling at Mrs Hudson.

"I'm Rhiannon." Rhiannon smiled. Mrs Hudson nodded and turned to look at the other women.

"And I'm Keri." Keri greeted waving her right hand in a small gesture. They reached the top up of the stairs and came face to face with a door.

"John, you have visitors." Mrs Hudson called through the door, rapping on it twice. Footsteps could be heard from behind the mahogany door. The door swung open and the three women's eyes locked on the man standing in front of them.

"I'll bring the towels up in a minute, girls." Mrs Hudson explained before scuttling back down the stairs. John opened the door further.

"Sorry to be rude...but do I know you?" John asked scrunching his forehead in confusion. He looked at the women bewildered.

The first was the tallest, her hair scrapped back into a ponytail and dripping wet from the rain. Several piercings framed her ears and a bracelet formed by paperclips circled her wrist. A black t-shirt with the letters MCR standing out in red letters and a list of tour dates printed on the back hanged damply off of her body. She wore dark blue skinny jeans completed with a pair of dark grey military boots that glistened from the raindrops.

The second was the smallest of the trio, her wild curls sprouting from beneath her black trilby. A baggy top sporting the words 'Bowties ARE Cool' and a picture of a bowtie could be seen beneath the leather jacket. Dark blue denim jeans were soaked and her blue converses looked as if they had seen better days. A purple and black ring shaped as a flower glinted in the artificial light, catching the attention of the Doctor.

The last smiled sheepishly, her burgundy hair plastered to her face, her blunt fringe nearly falling in her eyes. She wore a plain black vest top under a black cardigan both dripping rain water onto the freshly cleaned floor. Bright red skinny jeans clung to her legs and disappeared into her black converses. Her brown eyes were lined with a black eyeliner and her lips were tinted a light red.

"No you don't. We read your blog and we need to talk to you and your friend." The red lips moved. John moved to the side, letting them walk through. The three sat down on the sofa, not sure exactly what to do.

"Sorry, you don't mind waiting do you? Because Sherlock-"

"JOHN!" A masculine voice bellowed from downstairs. John sighed.

"- seems to back now." He finished. turning around waiting for the man to bound up the stairs. Heavy footsteps rang throughout the building and a figure could be seen heading towards them.

"John! Has anybody rang? I need a case, everything is so boring!" Sherlock moaned stepping through into the room, his eyes landed on the three women sat on his sofa. His face fell and terror crept onto it. "Oh no-" His sentence was cut off by the screaming coming from one of the women. Rhiannon leapt of the sofa and attacked the detective with a lethal amount of kisses and hugs. "John! Help!" Sherlock managed to say as Rhiannon continued to squeal in delight. The other two women stood up, Keri folded her arms across her chest and Megan raised an eyebrow.

"Sherlock. Do you know these people?" John enquired looking at his friend who was now trying to peel the woman off of him.

"Unfortunately...yes." He growled through his teeth as her tried to pull Rhiannon's arms away from his neck. Keri let out a long sigh and walked over to her over excited friend.

"Come on Rhiannon, leave him be." She called trying to catch the attention of her friend who had managed to clamber onto Sherlock's back. Rhiannon's bottom lip stuck out and silently pleaded against her friends wishes. "Now." Keri ordered, Rhiannon jumped down and stood awkwardly next to Sherlock.

"So who are they?" John continued a puzzled look still firmly on his face. Sherlock coughed and straightened his suit jacket.

"Old friends. Keri..." He said nodding in direction of the women with the red jeans. "...Megan..." He looked in the direction of the women still standing by the sofa. "...And _that_ is Rhiannon." He hissed looking down at the grinning women that had attacked him not moments ago. "We went to school-" Sherlock was cut off by Keri's hand connecting with his face, a sharp slapping sound ringing around the room, Megan walked up to stand beside her. "What was that-" Megan repeated Keri's actions causing Sherlock's head to whip to the other side.

"That, Sherlock. Was for not staying in contact with us!" Keri explained, scowling up at the detective. Megan stood next to her wearing the same expression. Rhiannon stood there like a rabbit caught in headlights, completely shocked on what her friends just did, her facial expression resembled one of a gold fish. "The amount of sh-"

"Calm down Keri." Megan soothed.

"-trouble, we got you out of off! We were your friends! Friends don't fuc-"

"Deep calming breathes, Keri. In and out, in and out." Megan continued to try and calm her friend that was getting more animated with every word, her voice raising higher and higher.

"-flippin' forget about their friends! I lost count at the amount of times Rhiannon tried to find you on Facebook! Did we really mean anything to you at all?" Keri concluded, her eyes welling up with tears. She kept her composure, she was never one to cry and she wasn't going to start now. Sherlock stared down at Keri and felt incredibly awkward.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely, looking away quickly.

"Sorry to disturb you, but here are your towels." Mrs Hudson's voice called out, Her eyes widened when Sherlock turned to face her. "Sherlock dear, what happened to your face?" She worried placing the towels down on the back of the chair and making her way towards him.

"I'm fine Mrs Hudson, why don't you go and make our guests a nice cup of tea." Sherlock diverted, the elderly lady smiled up at him.

"Ok Sherlock, but remember..."

"You're not our house keeper. I know." Sherlock finished, as he turned Mrs Hudson around and gently pushed her in direction of the door. He shut the door behind her before she had the chance to retaliate. He turned back in the direction of the others. "What are you doing here?"

"People are going missing." Rhiannon explained. Sherlock rolled his eyes and paced back and forth.

"Boring, people go missing all the time." He answered.

"But the people going missing. Are all the people that were in our class." Megan explained. Sherlock snapped his head in their direction. "And Keri received a strange letter this morning."


	2. Smile

Chapter 2

Sherlock scanned over the letter that Megan had pulled out of her bag. The message was made out of newspaper cuttings, forming the message: You're Next. And Keri's year 11 school photo glued beneath the message. No mistake that it was meant for Sherlock's childhood friend. He looked closely at the picture to see if there was anything different about it, anything that would point him in the right direction. But every time he looked at the smiling face of Keri, memories swam back of that particular day.

~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

The science teacher was rambling on about the difference between Alkenes and Alkanes. Sherlock hurriedly wrote down all the facts into his text book. His eyes averted to those of Rhiannon sitting next to him, he inwardly sighed when he saw what she was doing.

"We are supposed to be writing about Alkenes and Alkanes, not whatever it is that you write in that notebook." He whispered lowly enough that Mr Wrathton didn't hear him, Rhiannon looked up from her notebook into the eyes of her friend, a light blush colouring her cheeks. She quickly closed the book and placed it under her chemistry text book . Looking up at the old man that strode the length of the science lab, his eyes scanning over every students work made Rhiannon scribble down the facts as fast as possible.

"Sherly, you might want to lower your voice." Megan's voice whispered to the left of him, Sherlock scrunched his nose up at his nickname. "You wouldn't want to face the wrath of Wrathton." She snickered the last bit. "Ask Keri." Sherlock followed Megan's gaze until his eyes landed on his other friend sat at the front. Mr Wrathton put her there after she spoke out loud without permission. That caused the legendary argument of science band 11K1. Keri wasn't allowed into Mr Wrathton's class for two weeks, since she's come back into the science lab, Mr Wrathton decided it was for the better that he isolated her at the front. And now Sherlock could tell she was bored...One thing Sherlock is sure on about the forever changing mind of this female, is to never allow her to get bored.

Keri sighed and carried on to doodle on the desk, she glanced behind her to see Megan smirking at her from the back row. Keri rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her friend. A loud bang erupted in the room and simultaneous gasps followed not soon after. Keri took a big intake of breathe and turned knowing what she would see in front of her.

Sherlock held the bridge of his nose, he knew this wasn't going to end well, Mr Wrathton had already had a bad day. That he could tell by the fact that the said teacher had the lingering smell of alcohol that clung onto his clothes, he most probably dived into his secret stash of whisky that was locked in the draw behind his desk. Sherlock couldn't blame him, he would've they same thing if he knew that his next lesson was with Keri. He also had traces of royal icing on the corner of his mouth, an icing Sherlock had only seen when Mr Wrathton wasn't in a pleasant mood. Sherlock also noticed that he had deep bags under his eyes and the way he kept rubbing his lower back suggested that he didn't sleep well. In conclusion: Mr Wrathton's marriage was in dire need of help, he slept on the couch last night. And the fact that he had 11K1 for a double chemistry lesson was too much stress.

"Miss Jenkins." Mr Wrathton spoke slowly through gritted teeth. "Would you care to explain why you were pulling faces across my classroom?" Keri rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to argue back.

"I've come to collect the children for the school photo." A feminine voice piped up, a clipboard in hand and glasses perched on her nose. Keri just smiled up at the Teacher before scraping her chair along the lino flooring and standing up.

The class was lined up in alphabetical order outside the hall that was full of photography equipment. Sherlock stood between Megan and Keri, Rhiannon stood silently further down the line.

"Remember Sherly, you need to smile this time when they take the picture." Megan said looking at the disgruntled teen leaning against the cream coloured walls.

"I have not smiled in previous year photos, I am not going to start now." He answered monotonously, staring ahead at nothing.

"Miss Megan Hanson." The lady reappeared and led Megan through to the seat in front of the photographer. Sherlock stepped forward and awaited his turn, it wasn't long until the women stepped through the doors again. "Mr Sherlock Holmes ." She called out, snickers came from behind him as they always did whenever someone said his name. He brushed them off as he walked over to the seat, his eyes caught onto Megan as she left the room, she mouthed one word to him as she was walked out: Smile. Sherlock sat down, the laughter and jokes about him still audible. He held it in and stared blankly at the camera lens. The teasing grew louder and louder.

"OWWWWW!" Someone shouted outside. Sherlock laughed, he knew exactly what just happened. The camera flashed catching Sherlock of guard. He stood up, the laughter now silently pouring out of his mouth in short spurts. He turned around to see Keri stride up to the seat, a wide grin on her face and rubbing her knuckles gently.

~*~*~*~ END OF FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

Sherlock stared down at the note once again, a small smile making its way onto his face.

"Friends? I thought you said that you didn't have any friends?" John's voice questioned. Sherlock looked out of the corner of his eye at the male standing next to him.

"I had Friends. And then we went our separate ways. There's no need to be jealous John." Sherlock added while examining the back of the piece of paper.

"But they said that they tried to stay in contact." John continued. Sherlock looked away from the note and fully turned to face his friend.

"Sometimes it's easier to carry on your life not worrying about other people." Sherlock answered. He folded up the note and tucked it into his jacket pocket. "I'm going out, do not allow them to leave the flat." Sherlock ordered looking over to the women who appeared to be attempting to dry their hair with the white towels that Mrs Hudson had kindly leant them, the empty mugs now placed in amongst Sherlock's stuff on the table. He pulled on his coat and tied his blue scarf around his neck. "Good luck." Sherlock slammed the door behind him and his retreating footsteps grew fainter until they were no longer audible. John sighed and turned to face the three women standing looking out the window.

"So." John said awkwardly, rocking back on his heels and clapping his hands together.

"Where's Sherly going?" Megan asked collapsing back onto the sofa.

"I don't kno...Hang on? Sherly?" John asked feeling confused for the 100th time, these women were becoming more complex than the mind of a certain consulting detective. Rhiannon laughed and made her way to sit next to her friend.

"Sherly is short for Sherlock." Megan said slowly as if she was explaining it to a five year old.

"I gathered that." John replied but a huge question mark still hung above his head.

"It's just a stupid nickname Megan gave him when we were at school." Rhiannon explained rolling her eyes. "He never liked it." Megan hit Rhiannon's arm which resolved in Rhiannon hitting her back harder.

"It wasn't just me that gave him a nickname!" Megan sulked. "Keri did too!"

"God, that one was worse." Rhiannon shuddered. Keri's head snapped away from the window she was gazing out of, a look of disgust on her face.

"Hey!" She responded. "Holmesy didn't mind it!" She argued back, crossing her arms tightly across her chest and scowling deeply. John sat down in his chair and opened the news paper leaving them to argue. He could still hear the rain pounding against the window and the occasional flash of lightening lit up the street outside.

"So how long have you known Sherlock?" A feminine voice asked, bringing John back into reality. His eyes locked onto Rhiannon's smiling face. He brought the paper down, he hadn't noticed they had stopped arguing. Rhiannon sat in Sherlock's chair leaning slightly forward awaiting for John's answer. Megan and Keri shared the sofa both sprawled across it, Megan's eyes fixated on her phone and Keri had earphones in and was mouthing the words to the songs. Both their attention was now diverted to John. Keri pulled the headphones out of her ears and Megan placed her phone in her pocket. John coughed.

"Umm...Well, it has to be just over a year now." John answered. "How did you meet Sherlock?" All the women laughed.

"That was a funny day." Megan managed to say through her laughter. "We were 12 and Sherlock had moved to our school about halfway through the year."

"It was in a P.e lesson." Keri continued smiling widely. "Everyone in our class turned to look at the new kid, he was still lanky back then. And his hair!" Keri burst out laughing again. "It was in desperate need of a cut. If he was nervous back then, he didn't show it."

"We were just about to start a game of dodge ball, and the teacher had told him to join our team." Rhiannon took over. "People were already snickering at him then, his white polo top did look two sizes too big. He joined us and didn't say a word. Tony Jackson was renowned for being the school bully and it had seemed he had picked his next target. When the teacher went to hand the register in at the main office, Tony didn't hesitate to shout at him, ordering Sherlock to give him his lunch money and threatening him with all manner of threats if he didn't do as he said." The laughter had died in 221b and the atmosphere was tense.

"Tony then decided it was time to start the game early, hurtling the balls in his direction." Keri continued sneering _his_ name. "So me and Megan had enough started hurtling them back, not like that did any good."

"No it wasn't our best decision." Megan admitted "Once we targeted Tony all his followers joined in too. The rest of the class just stared in shock not wanting to help, they wouldn't want to risk Tony turning against them too. One of Tony's friends managed to chuck a ball at Sherly's head with such a force that he fell backwards, that really pushed Keri over the edge." Megan turned to face her friend her eyebrows raised and a look of disappointment on her face.

"I don't regret what I did. He had it coming." Keri replied a smirk on her face. John realised that he had leant forward eager to find out what happened next. "As Megan and Rhiannon helped Sherlock onto his feet I _may_ have stormed over to Tony and I _may_ have kicked him in the crotch and I _may_ have shouted at him to rot in hell." Keri laughed. "Our P.e teacher happened to walk in at that moment, but who needs to know about that bit." John stared unblinkingly at Keri, a short burst of laughter leaving his lips. "She had to run to the kitchen and fetch a bag of frozen peas. I've never eaten peas since."

"After Keri made sure Tony couldn't procreate and Megan had finished shouting profanities in his direction, we introduced ourselves to Sherlock in which he replied with-"

"You lot sure have made a lasting impression." A deep voice replaced Rhiannon's, Sherlock stood in the doorway, his hair shining with droplets of rain.


	3. SHERLOCK!

Chapter 3

The rain had finally stopped, Sherlock spotted that Rhiannon was still perched in his seat, her eyes glistening up to meet his. He narrowed his eyes and walked over to her.

"Out." He ordered. The small brunette instantly shot out of the chair and over to the sofa, her cheeks a light pink colour and a quiet 'sorry' leaving her lips in a rush. Sherlock picked up his violin and tunelessly plucked at the strings. "You can go back to your hotel now." All three women frowned.

"What?" Megan asked. Sherlock stopped plucking at the strings and turned to face woman, his eyes sparkling as if they had been charged with electricity.

"You're all staying at the same hotel, you wouldn't still be here if you weren't. The last train to Birmingham left at 08:35 and it is currently..." Sherlock looked down at his watch. "08:54. Your normal minds are probably thinking 'How does he know about the train and hotel?' Simple, when Rhiannon attacked me earlier that strong smell of shampoo was still clinging to her hair, a shampoo that smells of raspberries and strawberries and the only known hotel that provides each room with that type of shampoo is the premiere inn, and the closest one is a 20 minute walk away. The reason behind you having to have a shower was because you had ketchup in your hair, there is a tiny bit on your jacket and the only logical explanation behind it getting there is because Keri got bored and decided that she would play with the ketchup bottle at the station when you arrived in London, a long journey and knowing the expectancy on how regularly Megan loved to eat of course you stopped off at the chippy after you got off the train. Now Birmingham? That wasn't that hard to work out, Keri had written down the dates and cost of tickets on the back of her hand, the rain smudging the letters, but the prominent 'B', 'M' and 'H' and the length of the black ink made Birmingham the obvious answer. Am I right?" Sherlock concluded. His eyes scanning the three female faces in front of him. The usual look on anybody's face would usually consist of shock and amazement, but these women looked at him with a bored expression, like a person that had seen a magic trick too many times and knows the secret.

"We went to McDonalds, actually." Megan corrected. Sherlock mentally kicked himself, hating it whenever he made a mistake. "Where did you go earlier?"

"Just...out." Sherlock answered "Go back to the hotel and make sure not to be kidnapped." Sherlock stood up and walked towards the door, he opened it wide and gestured for the women to walk through it. "I'll explain more tomorrow." Keri rolled her eyes and walked out the door first, waving to John before scowling at Sherlock. Rhiannon and Megan followed suit, saying their short goodbyes as they left. Sherlock shut the door behind them and made sure that he heard the front door slam signalling that they had actually left. John coughed loudly catching the attention of his flatmate.

"Care to explain?" he asked as he watched Sherlock collapse onto the now free sofa. The detective gazed up at the ceiling remaining completely still.

"Just an experiment, John." he answered closing his eyes.

* * *

><p>Knock, knock, knock. "SHERLOCK!" Knock, knock, knock. "SHERLOCK!" Knock, knock, knock. "SHERLOCK!" Sherlock's eyes snapped open, the frantic knocking on the door continuing. He laid still for a minute in the same position on the sofa as last night. He swung his legs over the edge of the couch, calmly walking over to the door that was currently vibrating with the amount of hits it was taking. "SHERLOCK!" the voices wailed again. His hand clasped the door handle, with the cool metal touching his skin he turned it to reveal Megan and Rhiannon wide eyed and pale.<p>

"Keri's gone!" Rhiannon cried before burying herself in Sherlock's chest. Megan stood there silently, her eyes showing no life and shock soaking her features. Sherlock stood there awkwardly not knowing how to comfort wailing 35 year old woman that was drenching his white shirt with her tears. John picked that exact moment to appear, his eyes widening at the scene in front of him.

"What happened?" He asked, his mind clicked when he noticed that a certain opinionated brunette wasn't with them. "Oh my God, it happened." John walked over to them, his eyes flickering to detective that was still standing there with a grimace on his face. "Jesus Sherlock! Don't just leave them out here, invite them in!" Sherlock pulled backwards, breaking free of the iron grasps of the blabbering women

.

"T-t-thank you." Rhiannon stuttered as she shuffled into the flat. Megan slumped onto the sofa looking as if she would pass out at any given moment, her hair was scruffily pulled back into a loose bun, tufts of hair sprouting in all direction. Rhiannon's curls were even more untamed, tear stains glinting in the light. John shut the door behind them and walked over to his chair.

"What happened?" Sherlock enquired quickly, both pairs of glistening eyes looked up at him simultaneously and Rhiannon's bottom lip began to tremble.

"Give them a minute, Sherlock! Their friend has gone missing! No scratch that, _your _friend has gone missing!" John argued. Sherlock scoffed and faced the doctor.

"I did say last night, not to get kidnap-"

"Not the time!" John interrupted.

"I don't understand." Megan's voice piped up, her voice cracking slightly and sounding as if she was discussing this with herself. "She was fine last night, nothing was any different, we went straight to our room as soon as we got there. For God sake, We were all in the same bloody room! How could we not notice her leave!" Megan cried out. Rhiannon rubbed her friends arm. "We just went to sleep and when we woke up it was like 'Crap, where's Keri gone?' and then it sank in when we looked everywhere for her. We rang and her phone was still plugged in charging next to her bed, and Keri never goes anywhere without her phone! Please Sherlock, please help find out who's doing this!" Megan buried her head in her hands. Sherlock took a deep breath in.

"I'm going to need to get to your hotel room. Whoever is doing this likes to work fast. At least we now know that this person followed you here, so they're in the city and know where you are staying. They all ready knew you were staying there when you checked in-"

"If you knew they knew that, then why did you allow us to go back there when you purposely knew we were in danger?" Rhiannon questioned, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"I wasn't positive, but with the current circumstance-"

"Woah! Even if you weren't 100% Look what has happened! Keri's gone!" Megan growled standing up from the sofa and sneering at Sherlock. "If you were to tell us, we could've of prevented this! Keri would still be here!" Sherlock flinched back from the harsh words. Megan's former zombie self now gone and her lifeless eyes now burned with fire. John's mouth opened and his eyes widened.

"Oh Sherlock, No. Please don't tell me this is what you meant by experiment?" John pleaded. Sherlock straitened up.

"Yes." He answered. Rhiannon grabbed hold of Megan's wrist, preventing her from clawing at the man. John buried his head in his hands, shaking and giving off a nervous laugh.

"Experiment!" Both women cried in unison. Megan attempted to pull herself free form Rhiannon.

"It was all an experiment!" Megan erupted. "Does Keri really mean that much to you? Just to be classified as an 'experiment'! She could be dead" Sherlock stood up so he was face to face with his angry acquaintance.

"Listen!" He bellowed, his nose inches away from hers. Megan stayed quiet but upheld her glare. "There is a perfectly logical reason behind all of this! I needed Keri to go missing so I could work out how fast this person works! And believe me when I say this." Sherlock paused, staring deep into Megan's eyes. "I. Will. Find. Her." He growled the last bit before turning and throwing himself onto his chair. Megan stayed still, her body shaking and her fists clenched. Rhiannon pulled Megan back towards the sofa comforting her with reassuring words, but Megan had already returned to her former zombie mode ignoring everything around her.

Sherlock stayed still for what seemed a decade, ignoring all John's attempts of conversation and leaving Megan to rest in his room and Rhiannon in John's. As soon as they had returned from their shocked state he would get them to take him to the room, they were no good to him in their current state. Sherlock closed his eyes, for the first time he felt guilty and he didn't quite understand why. Maybe it was because he sent Keri in the direction of possible death? Or the faces of Megan and Rhiannon when they turned up this morning? Or the possible fact that he might lose three of his oldest friends if he failed this case?

* * *

><p>Keri opened her eyes, a constant pounding was radiating from her head. The room was blurred and she waited for her vision to focus. Wherever she was, it was dark and cold. A pressure on Keri's wrists prevented her hands from parting to remove her fringe from her eyes and a slightly less amount of pressure could be felt around her neck. She opened her mouth to scream out but an old rag muffled her words. She froze when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Her breathing hitched and her head turned slowly to whatever was there.<p>

A silent scream left her lips as her eyes widened at the scene in front of her.


	4. Dancing in the Shadows

Sherlock was still sat in his seat when Megan walked into the room rubbing her eyes and trying to stifle a yawn. John noticed that she still looked incredibly pale and worried dearly for the health of the woman.

"Can I get you anything?" John called out breaking the silence. Megan shook her head and curled up in a ball on the sofa, her knees tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped tightly round them. Sherlock looked to his left, but immediately snatched his head back when the guilt rushed through him again. He didn't like it, and he was certain that it'd be gone soon. The room had succumb to silence once again, it wasn't until Rhiannon entered the room that conversation once again filled the contents of 221b.

"So what do we do now?" Rhiannon's voice sounded, cracking slightly again but her face still remained still. Megan shrugged and looked pleadingly in the direction of the taller male.

"The hotel room." Sherlock answered. "See if the kidnapper's left any clues, made any mistakes." Sherlock stood up reaching for his navy scarf which he carelessly discarded on the back of his chair. John grabbed his and Sherlock's coats from the back of the door and chucked the detective's coat towards its owner. Rhiannon stood confused, the whole atmosphere in the flat changing in a matter of seconds, it was as if someone had filled the place with electricity and everything was buzzing compared to its previous depressing self.

"Who could you think is doing this?" John asked as he shuffled into his jacket. Sherlock stood in the doorway, his hands deep in his pockets and his collar pulled up.

"Most likely someone from our school, someone that Keri and the others angered." Sherlock answered. John scoffed.

"From the stories they've told, it could be anyone then." John laughed, Sherlock gave a weak smile and turned towards the stairs.

"She isn't mean, she's just a tad bit over protective." A small voice came from behind, John looked over his shoulder to see the big brown eyes of Rhiannon staring back at him. "She'd do anything for her friends, and believe me, she's just as sensitive as the rest of us."

"I mean I remember our school prom, she danced-"

"Now would be a good time to enter the taxi." Sherlock's voice interrupted Megan, his hand rested on the black cab door and a blank expression covered his face. John blinked, not noticing that he had already stepped outside. Megan entered the taxi first and Rhiannon climbed in next to her squishing over so John could fit in with them. Sherlock walked round to the passenger door, still yet to let his face crack and show a bit of emotion. He slammed the door shut as he slumped into the seats, his nose wrinkled up at the smell of the cabbie next to him. He blocked out the voices around him and closed his eyes, a small sigh leaving his lips that went unnoticed.

~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

The hall had made a complete transformation, it's bare white walls had red and gold streamers hanging from them and a huge white banner stretched the length of the room, the words 'Class of 1996' swirled across it neatly in gold paint. Bright lights lit up the usual dreary area and the floor was vibrating from the music that was pounding out of the large speakers. Sherlock stood at the back, unnoticeable and hidden in the shadows. He rolled his eyes at his class mates, he saw no point in this dance and found it excruciatingly boring. In fact he had no idea why he even agreed to turn up tonight. Sherlock scanned the rest of the hall, looking for the three girls that dragged him to this god forsaken place. His eyes landed on Megan and Rhiannon, both seemingly enjoying the voices of the spice girls that was blasting through the room.

"Having fun back here?" A feminine voice asked to the left of him. Sherlock averted his gaze to look at the smiling woman who also seemed to be watching his friends.

"Funnily enough, no." Sherlock answered. "I'm surprised you're not with them." He turned to fully face Keri who now had both eyebrows raised in an alarming manner.

"Well if I wanted to suffer from public humiliation, lose my dignity and have the high chance of injuring myself. Then yeah, I'd be dancing with them." Keri answered. A small smile tugged at the corners of Sherlock's mouth. "Anyway, I'd much rather be back here. I don't want anybody to see me and ask me if-"

"Hey Keri. Would you like to dance?" Sherlock's grin widened as he watched Keri's face fall, her eyes narrowed at him and her mouth formed a smirk. She turned to face the newcomer, the black fabric of her dress swishing from the sudden movement.

"Sorry. George, is it?" She questioned, her voice turning sickly sweet. Sherlock rolled his eyes at the tone and watched as George nodded his head. "But Holmesy just asked me too." She finished with a shrug. Sherlock opened his mouth to deny the statement but Keri already had a firm grip on his wrist and was rushing over to the centre of the dance floor. Sherlock stood still, not knowing quite what to do.

"I thought you said you didn't want to dance. You had a list of reasons why." Sherlock hissed, his icy glare aimed straight into the pleading brown ones of his friend.

"Please Sherlock, I'd risk those reasons any day than have some dude try to touch me up on the dance floor!" Keri hissed back. "Is he still looking?" She whispered the last bit, both of them still standing motionless in the middle of the crowd.

"No." Sherlock answered, his gaze now on George who was trying to join in with Megan and Rhiannon. "He has he eyes set on other girls."

"Oh, thank god. For a minute there I thought I was actually going to have to dance." Keri sighed already turning in the direction in which they came.

"Urmm...K-K-Keri?" A timid voice caused both of them to stop in their tracks. Keri looked out of the corner of her eye and realised her breathe that she was holding in when she saw who it was.

"Gordon. What'd you want?" She asked the small dirty blonde haired guy in front of her, who appeared to be swamped in what she could only presume as a borrowed tuxedo from an older sibling. Gordon swallowed a lump at the back of his throat and wiped the gleam of sweat that had formed on his forehead above his thick rimmed glasses. "I was wondering if...ummm...you...ahh...I mean-"

"God Gordon, spit it out!" Sherlock growled as his patience was increasingly running out. Gordon gulped and pushed his glasses back up his nose. Keri nudged her elbow into her friends chest.

"Go on, Gordon." Keri gestured, her face softening. Gordon smiled up at her as Sherlock glared down.

"I was just wondering...if y-y-you would like...to hang out sometime?" Gordon blushed and tilted his head down to look at his shoes. Keri's mouth fell open and Sherlock let a roll of laughter leave his lips, resolving him with another jab to the ribs from the smaller female. If it wasn't for the constant buzz of music and chatter in the room an awkward silence would've been surrounding the three sixteen year olds. Sherlock leaned into Keri, a smirk plastered on his face.

"I'll leave you two to it." He whispered before strutting back into the shadows.

Sherlock laughed quietly to himself as he watched the other two dancing, Megan was now being given a piggyback ride around the hall and Rhiannon seemed to be chatting to Benedict, a guy she had been completely in love with since she first saw him. He continued to watch as Megan nearly knocked over the food table. He shook his head and turned to face to close approaching Keri.

"So when's your date?" Sherlock asked trying to keep a straight face. Keri sighed and wacked his arm.

"Shut it." She hissed. "I turned him down. Nicely." She explained as she slouched against the wall. Sherlock scoffed.

"Nice, is not in my vocabulary for describing you." He replied.

"I am very nice!" Keri retaliated. A look of pure shock on her face. "I didn't want to hurt his feelings. He reminded me of you-"

"What?" Sherlock spluttered, looking over to Gordon who was dancing by himself in an embarrassing manner. "How?" Keri laughed.

"That's what you were like when I first met you. Shy, quiet and had no idea how to talk to people. But now look at you." Keri paused and looked straight at Sherlock. "Still Shy, quiet and have no idea how to talk to people." She laughed and turned her attention back to the fight that was going on in the far left hand corner. "Ooh, looks as if Jason finally found out Mary had been sleeping with Tommy."

"I do know how to talk to people. It just so happens most people have nothing interesting to say." Sherlock explained. Keri rolled her eyes.

"The only difference between you and Gordon." Keri started before looking Sherlock up and down. "Is that you look good in a suit. Now come on, it's prom. We both need to dance once, even if it is in the shadows." She held out her hand and Sherlock took it voluntarily, spinning her around and falling in step with the slow beat of the song filling the hall.

~*~*~*~ END OF FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

The Taxi pulled up alongside the entrance of the Premiere Inn. Sherlock pushed open his door before the others had even managed to undo their seatbelts.

"He's in a rush." Rhiannon commented. John handed the cabbie the money and stared at the retreating frame of the detective.

"He always is." John replied.

* * *

><p>The body swung back and forth, hanging from the piece of rope tied to the beam above it. As Keri averted her gaze from the corpse next to her more of them came into her vision. Her eyes filled up as the faces were recognisable. Each one held the same dead look in their eyes compared the vibrancy in which Keri saw everyday when she was younger. A loud creak sounded and a flood of light blinded the female. A silhouette stood amongst the light, their footsteps neared closer towards Keri. A hand ripped the old rag off from around Keri's mouth.<p>

"You?" Keri gasped as she coughed and stared in disbelief.

"Me." The silhouette replied


	5. Goodbye

**This is it, the last chapter :D so yeah...enjoy **

John watched as Sherlock shifted through the girls belongings, tipping bags upside down allowing the contents to clutter the ground, his facial expression showing he was getting increasingly annoyed when nothing of convenience fell out.

"So where did you go last night?" John asked, still curious about the detectives absence from the night before. Sherlock's head snapped up in John's direction.

"Out. Where you not listening to me last night." Sherlock explained looking at John with an equally confused expression, the fact that he hadn't been paying attention to him angered him slightly.

"I know, but where did you go?" John asked, picking up a discarded hoodie from the floor and placing it on the chair. It was then that John really took in his surroundings. The room was relatively small, the purple paint peeling and flaking onto the cream carpet. Two single beds were situated in the middle room and a single camp bed was positioned in the far corner. A single night stand held a lamp and a couple of draws beneath it. Three suitcases that were once standing neatly out of the way next to the camp bed were now sprawled across the room, all contents of them also randomly strewn around the room. Rhiannon sat cross legged on one of the single beds, her eyes focused on the screen of the white laptop on her lap. Megan was in the bathroom chucking random cosmetics out of the door, also hoping to come across any clue to their friends whereabouts.

"Scotland Yard." Sherlock answered, flicking through a notebook and shaking it to see if anything fell from it. John continued to stare at the detective waiting for him to explain fully. "I went to see the missing list, narrowed it down to all the previous students of the school, of our class." Sherlock finally explained, chucking the notebook behind him and began angrily pacing the length of the room. His mouth moving quietly and too quickly for John to make anything out of it. He paused and stared at Megan who was walking back into the room, a look of defeat on her face. "What did you exactly do when you came back here?" Sherlock asked slowly. Megan collapsed onto the other bed, burying her head in her pillow. Rhiannon averted her eyes from the screen and looked up at Sherlock.

"We came straight up here, so that rules out of someone spiking our drinks and food as we didn't eat or drink anything at the restaurant. So if someone managed to drug us so they could take Keri without us knowing, I have no idea on how they done it." Rhiannon answered. Sherlock continued to pace, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

"So you came straight up here and went to bed. Then how did-"

"Well we didn't go straight to bed." Megan interrupted, sitting up on the bed and looking at her friend. "The rain had drenched us, so we had showers." With this new information Sherlock ran into the bathroom, John trailing not far behind. The bathroom consisted of a shower, toilet and sink. A mirror covering most of one side of the bathroom wall. Sherlock tore the shower head away from the wall and somehow to the girls confusion, separated the shower head in half, revealing its mechanics. When nothing out of the ordinary appeared, Sherlock dropped it to the ground and stormed out of the room. John's eyes landed on the two shocked faces of the women.

"Don't worry, we'll pay for the damage." John comforted, sighing as he left to find his flatmate.

"Where's the hairdryer?" Sherlock shouted from the other room, his eyes frantically searching for the one object in what appeared to be in a warzone of screwed up clothes and misplaced shoes. Megan wadded through the mess and dug up a bronze coloured hairdryer, holding it at arm's length to the detective.

Rhiannon had returned to her bed and opened her friends laptop screen, the smiling faces of them three appearing on the screen. She tucked her knees tightly under her chin and her arms wrapped tightly around them as her eyes skimmed over the photos of the trio. She refused to believe that is the only way that she would be able to see Keri from now on. Sherlock promised he'd find her. A dry laugh left Rhiannon's lips when she thought of Keri's reaction when she'd find out she'd been on her laptop, the words that Rhiannon and Megan had heard plenty of times rang through her mind _'You touch, you die!' _

Sherlock gripped the hairdryer in his hands, inspecting the exterior of it. He unclasped the back of it and a small object caught his attention. A smile spread across the man's face.

"Oh, they're clever. Very clever." Sherlock laughed, shaking the hairdryer until the small canister dropped into his hand. The others looked at him in confusion, not really seeing the funny side to what's going on. Sherlock rolled his eyes, shoving the canister in their eye line. "Look!" He said, waving the canister. Blank looks stared back at him. "Why do normal people have to be so stupid?" he sighed. "This is a Nitrous Oxide container." Sherlock explained slowly, yet this still had no effect on changing the confused faces in the room. "Laughing gas. It's a weak form of anaesthetic, when you dried your hair the pressure pressed the can to release the gas, you then breathed in the gas resolving in none of you waking up to notice the intruder. You weren't drugged, you were gassed." Sherlock explained.

"Well that makes me feel so much better." Megan replied sarcastically.

"But when did they put the canister in the hairdryer?" Rhiannon asked her eyes fixated on the small grey canister.

"The only logical explanation is when you were round ours." Sherlock answered tucking the canister into his coat pocket.

"But how did they get into the room?" John said curiously. Sherlock stood in the door frame, glancing back at the others.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Sherlock stated. "They're an employee of the hotel."

* * *

><p>"Don't be scared, Keri. I'm not going to hurt you...yet." The menacing laugh caused Keri to flinch in her seat. She was still in shock. How could it be<em> him<em> doing this to everyone?

* * *

><p>Sherlock repeatedly hit the bell on the desk till the receptionist rounded the corner a cold look on her face.<p>

"Welcome to the Premiere Inn, how can I be of service?" Her voice droned like it was the 100th time she has recited those lines.

"I need a list of employee names." Sherlock demanded strumming his fingers agitatedly on the desk worktop.

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't authorize a stranger-"

"Detective Inspector Lestrade." Sherlock lied, holding a police badge in front of the women's eyes. "Now get me that list." The receptionist disappeared into the cupboard a trail of _'sorry sir'_ leaving her lips. John glared at Sherlock.

"You stole Greg's badge?" John hissed as he watched Sherlock slip the badge back into his coat pocket.

"I borrowed his badge. There's a difference." Sherlock answered back just as the receptionist returned holding a large file and dropped it onto the desk.

"Is there anything else you need?" She asked eying the detective. Sherlock shook his head and looked inside the file scanning past person to person until he stopped. His face draining of colour.

"I know who's got her. And I know where."

* * *

><p>"You see, Keri. You wouldn't be in this mess if you just said yes." The voice growled. "None of them would've been dead! Well now look at them." Keri's eyes wandered to the numerous hanging bodies, all dangling from the high beams that supported the roof. It was then that it clicked where they were. Her old school gym, she remembered that it was due for some kind of demolition at the start of the next month and it had been abandoned for years. "They ended up hanging with me involuntarily." Another laugh left his mouth at his own joke.<p>

"You're a sick man, Gordon!" Keri shouted at the male. His features completely different from the shy boy she used to know. He still had a pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose but they were modern, a scar lined his left cheek and his hair was flopping into his eyes, still the same dirty blonde colour. Keri shivered, not sure if it was from the icy glare Gordon was giving or the fact that she was sat in a unheated hall wearing her pyjamas; a band tee and grey jogging bottoms. Gordon just laughed down at her.

"You used to be so fiery! Your temper amazed me." Gordon smiled his face inches away from Keri's. "It's a shame that I'm going to have to kill you." Gordon shrugged walking over to a self constructed structure that led up to the beams where Keri noticed more rope hang. For his next victims. Gordon's heavy footsteps shook the beam above her and dust rained down on her. The rope around her neck moved slightly and Her heartbeat increased. She furiously tried to remove her hands from the rope that was constricting them.

"All I have to do is jump, and you'll be hanging in the air like a piñata." Gordon teased, pulling on the rope a little more.

"He's coming for you!" Keri blurted out, trying to bide her time. The pressure around her neck loosened.

"Who?" Gordon's distant voice growled.

"Sherlock. He'll figure out that it's you that's doing all this!" Keri argued back, her blood boiling in anger.

"Really?" Gordon's voice boomed erupting into laughter again. "Then where is he? I don't think he's coming. He's not going to save you." The tension of the rope increased causing air to rush out of Keri's lungs.

"I wouldn't say that." A smooth voice came from the shadows, a gunshot sounded after it breaking the rope in two causing Keri to fall to the floor gasping for air.

"God, talk about saving it to the last minute. You took your time!" Keri gasped between each breathe looking up at the man approaching her.

"Who's there?" Gordon's voice called out in panic. Sherlock stepped into the light. Gordon began to run along the beams. Sherlock took off after him, racing towards the structure Gordon had made and clambered onto it and swung himself onto the beam. Keri followed, not knowing what she was meant to do.

"Where's Rhiannon and Megan?" Keri whispered as she balanced herself on the beam. Sherlock looked over his shoulder and sighed.

"Outside with John, I strongly recommend you go join them." Sherlock ordered. Gordon stepped back into their field of vision a smirk plastered on his face.

"Glad you could join us, Holmes. Now both of you can die tonight." Gordon took a step forward causing the wood beneath their feet to groan. Sherlock scoffed at the threat, a look of curiosity etching its way onto Gordon's face. "Enlighten me. How did you figure this out?"

"You had access to all the missing people. As an employee at the premiere Inn you can work at any of the hotels around England, you scared your victims with the notes so they would stay away for the night where they would believe they were safe. And then you'd strike and bring them to this place. You couldn't help it. Just the irony of killing the people in the place where they 'killed' your confidence, where they turned you down was just too tempting. That was your mistake." Sherlock explained. Keri stepped around him and crossed onto the next beam unnoticed by the psychopath that was intrigued by Sherlock's deduction.

"And I presume the police are on their way?" Gordon asked burying his hands in his pockets and walking towards the detective that stood motionless.

"That presumption would be correct." Sherlock answered. The wood groaned again as more pressure was put on the centre of the beam. Gordon's stood above the tangles of rope, a grin spread across his face.

"Well they're-" Gordon was cut off by the sound of the beam giving away. A type grip clasped onto Sherlock's wrist and quickly pulled him onto the next beam. Gordon attempted to leap for the same beam but his foot got caught in the falling rope. A loud scream left his lungs as he fell, the rope managing to wrap its way around his neck, just before his body hit the floor the rope grew taught and a sickening snap echoed in the hall. Gordon's body swayed back and forth, all signs of life now gone.

"Are you ok?" Keri's shaken voice asked, he eyes still staring unblinkingly at the corpse swaying below them.

"Yes." Sherlock answered his face showing no emotion and his hands buried deep in his coat pockets.

"Ermm, Sherlock?" Keri asked now facing away from Gordon and frantically looking around the hall.

"Hmm." Sherlock responded.

"How do you 'spose we get down?"

Sherlock watched the scene in front of him. Megan sitting on the pavement outside the old school, pale and shaken up, Rhiannon sat next to her equally just as pale. Sherlock rolled his eyes, it was their fault they were now in this situation. If they hadn't ran into the building and seen the dead bodies, Megan wouldn't have thrown up and Rhiannon would never had passed out. They were never good in those type of situations, Rhiannon nearly collapsed when the class hamster was found dead in year 9. Sherlock looked over at Lestrade who was asking Keri a few questions. And by the looks of things trying to persuade her to put that orange shock blanket back on.

"Well I wouldn't put it past you to have the most abnormal friends out there." John's voice came from the left of Sherlock.

"Normality is overrated." Sherlock replied. John laughed and Sherlock couldn't help but snicker.

It wasn't long till they were outside the hotel again. Each suitcase neatly packed and the long room bill had been paid by John as promised, even though the price of a broken shower head seemed to be a little bit more than he was expecting. The three women stood facing Sherlock and John.

"Well thanks for your help." Megan smiled before tackling Sherlock with a bear hug. "And promise to keep in contact with us this time." Sherlock gave a slight nod, not really intending with keeping this promise.

"We will." John answered much to Sherlock's dismay. Keri stepped forward and held out her hand to John.

"It was nice meeting you, even though I didn't actually spend that much time with you." Keri laughed, John shook her hand and smiled at her.

"It was nice meeting you too." Keri moved away from John and turned to look at Sherlock, both of them not fond of hugging.

"Bye." She said to him, he just nodded in recognition. As soon as Keri moved to the side Rhiannon charged at the detective, nearly sending him falling backwards.

"We should meet up again sometime." Rhiannon squealed. "And then we can talk about all the fun times we had! Like The school play and the time that Mr Rean fell in the school pond-"

"Not to mention Sherlock's first Kiss." Megan laughed, Keri joined in when both Sherlock's and Rhiannon's cheeks reddened.

"That was not a fun experience for me." Sherlock hissed. John's mouth hit the ground and he pointed between the two of them.

"I have to hear this one." John pleaded, his eyes still wide with shock.

"Maybe another time, we really need to leave now if we want to catch our train." Keri replied. "So if you would kindly detach yourself from Holmesy, Rhiannon, we'll be on our way." Rhiannon let go of Sherlock and waved sheepishly at the doctor before dragging her case along the pavement to catch up with the others.

John turned to Sherlock, his body shaking from the laughter that was wanting to pour out.

"Oh, Shut up." Sherlock snapped, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

"What? I didn't say anything." John spluttered before bursting out in hysterics. Sherlock rolled his eyes and continued to stride down the street. A small smile making its way onto his face. Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud, he really had missed those three.


End file.
